The Rustbucket used to be less quiet before.
Ben would leave his dirty clothes around, making Gwen complain. Gwen would suggest another place for nerds like her, and Ben would disapprove. Max would make one of his special meals, and the kids could be heard moaning in disgust at the sight of the monstrosity their grandfather had cooked.
Yet tonight wasn't as lively of a night as the others.
Kevin had come back, and stole his identity! After last time, Ben discovered that Kevin had absorbed the energy from the watch and turned into an alien hybrid mess, and he had tried to ruin Ben's reputation with his aliens and causing harm to others. He had crossed a line by harming everyone for the reason he was hurt, and Ben felt it wasn't that good of an excuse. Yet again, he felt pretty mad too when he met Vilgax, but it wasn't a reason to go psycho on the whole town.
And it bothered Ben so much, because if Kevin proved himself to be a bad guy, he couldn't forget he liked him when they first met.
It still really hurt that Kevin turned out to be that resentful, because Ben felt Kevin could've related to what Ben had. Kevin was a mutant, Ben was actually an alien. Kevin had absorbing powers, Ben had the Omnitrix. Kevin liked Sumo Slammers, and so did Ben. Kevin wasn't such a pain to listen to like Gwen was, and Ben appreciated that. Kevin was thrown away by his parents (if what he told him the first time was accurate), and Ben was kidnapped by his grandfather (or who he thought was his grandpa), before being given to the people he thought were his parents.
OK, maybe Kevin wouldn't have understood something that heavy to take in, but at least Ben felt it was nice to have someone else who knew how being a superpowered freak could be. Even if Kevin hadn't mentioned anything about having alien parents...
And Kevin knew what it was like to be an outcast like him among other kids, everyone making fun of him, teasing him and bullying him. Ben had felt that a lot at school, ever since JT had left him to hang out with Cash instead.
It would've been cool if Ben didn't lose another friend who decided harming him was fun.
'That's what you get for not being a perfect know-it-all like Gwen, I guess.'
Kevin aside, Ben wasn't really happy with how Max and Gwen reacted to his framing.
Gwen had jumped to the conclusion her cousin was responsible and it took seeing him and Kevin at the same place and the same time to believe he was innocent, disregarding that Tetrax and the Wildmutts they fought still existed, and that Ben wasn't the only alien kid on Earth. It reminded him of how actually negative their cousin relationship was all this time, and that he shouldn't have expected her to trust his word if she thought she saw him causing trouble, especially after that he had called out Max.
Max had taken Ben's side, but he agreed with Gwen. It didn't help that Kevin's alien forms wore the same clothes as he did, and Ben felt being judged guilty by someone who still helped him through a good chunk of his life was disappointing. He hadn't told Max about helping Vilgax escape, he hadn't told him how he got rid of Phil, he even tried to let some of the things that annoyed him about Max's attitude slide, even keeping a low profile when cleaning the RV the day a giant tick tried to eat everyone and he got Cannonbolt.
He still felt Max was terribly at wrong, even if Vilgax seemed like a bad guy. Hiding his Plumber career, lying to everyone, leading him and Gwen on. Was it that hard to be sincere with his family if he cared so much? Ben didn't know what to believe anymore.
A close relative had broken his trust, a guy he thought of as a friend backstabbed him, Gwen showed she still didn't have that much faith in him... Ben wasn't sure this was what being a hero entailed.
The way his life took a turn made his fighting somewhat more ruthless, he hadn't given Kevin the time to breathe while they fought in San Francisco. It took him a lot of willpower not to fatally injure the young mutant, and he wasn't even sure Kevin wouldn't be able to come back. He still had Ripjaws' powers, he could breathe under water even with a heavy weight. And unlike him, Kevin couldn't time out after mutating even more, this wouldn't be the last time they'd fight each other.
The night was tense, and as he made sure that Max and Gwen were asleep to act out.
He opened his window and, bringing a towel with him, he went outside the Rustbucket, out in the forest. Max had parked there for the night, and thanks to sneaking on Gwen's computer, Ben learned there was a lake nearby. If he could get himself some alone time as well as an opportunity to train his powers in water, it could really help him get stronger before the next attack.
He landed face first on the dirt as he got out. 'Something tells me this is going to be fun and easy to do.', he pouted.
He got up, and as soon as he made a few steps forward, a metal claw seized him by the back of his shirt, making him yelp in surprise as he saw he was getting above the ground really quick.
He was about to hit the Omnitrix to fight, but he stopped himself as he looked behind him. The robot who caught him looked like the ones he saw when he first found the watch. Except, it didn't look like it was threatening to take it away or sawing his arm off. And now that Ben knew who the robot's master was, it was easier not to panic.
He just didn't expect his father to be back and wanting to see him this soon.
Vilgax sat on his ship's throne, awaiting his son's arrival.
He had made sure to cover his tracks to avoid another possible Plumber counterattack from Maxwell Tennyson or anyone else, using his drones to lead the attention elsewhere and use the ones he had left to bring Ben to him.
Naturally, the warlord would've waited some time to see his son again. Even if he got back to Earth, he assumed Benjamin would need some space before feeling the need to reunite again. But one of his drones had shown him a recording, one that had been broadcasted on Earth frequencies. He was much confused when he saw Ben, or what seemed to be Ben at first glance, causing mayhem in several Earth towns.
Of course, while it was likely that his son was angry with this planet after learning his true identity and how he came to be prisoner of it, he knew Ben wasn't that careless with his powers, from what he's seen. Ben had been solving crimes and Earth trivialities for a while before meeting Vilgax, it was understandable but irrational for him to lash back this mindlessly.
Furthermore, he felt the alien fighting in the recording had nothing to do with his son. His fighting was spiteful, brutal, mindless like a beast, something that didn't match with Ben's creativity on the ship. He understood it couldn't have been Ben when he noticed the Omnitrix was missing from the culprit's body, but why the Lepidopterran, Galvanic Mechamorph and Pyronite looked so much like the Omnitrix's alien forms was still a mystery. Even the skin pattern and the clothing they've had matched Ben's.
As if someone was trying to impersonate him and cause him trouble.
Vilgax fumed at the idea someone tried to give his child a bad name. Ben was the heir to his empire, his son and one of the only persons he'd sacrifice his life for in the entire universe. Whoever was responsible for these crimes would pay for using Ben as a scapegoat, and he'd make sure he'd make any Earthling or other species behind it suffer.
Another question was dangling off the tip of his tongue: where in the world was Max Tennyson in this entire story? From what he learned, Max had tried to pass off as Ben's grandfather for almost a decade, so where was he when his "grandson" was wrongly accused of being a criminal? He doubted Max truly cared anyway.
He hadn't cared when Vilgax left, and Vilgax saw no reason for the old man to remotely be bothered to give Ben the help and support he needed.
The alien king rested a hand on his throne, waiting for his drone to bring the young hero back to him.
A trapdoor opened on the surface of the ship, leaving an entrance for Ben to get in. Or rather, fall in.
He wondered if he did something wrong or if these robots just really hated humans, because it certainly wasn't fun to spend an hour feeling his shirt being pulled hard, flying in the sky at an uncomfortable height, as well as hearing the machine making noises every five minutes, before suddenly dropping him inside the Chimerian Hammer, making him land hard on the vessel's cold ground.
He'd need to tell Vilgax to either make friendlier robots, or to park his spaceship somewhere on land. He wasn't sure even Heatblast or Stinkfly could get that high before timing out. He shook his head trying to regain focus on his surroundings, the altitude momentarily making him sick.
"Alas, you have returned to me, my son."
Ben raised his head to see Vilgax, hands resting on his throne, observing the boy from a close eye.
"You... you're back."
"Now Ben, why don't you take a seat?" he said, waving towards a smaller throne before him, resembling his.
"Uh, okay." Ben awkwardly answered.
He still felt tense from the adventures he got back from, it was hard to believe he was about to have a nice chat with his alien warlord dad like it was nothing. He sat in front of his father, making a poor attempt at hiding his lack of comfort (and lack of sleep, he had sneaked out in the middle of the night after all).
"Thanks. Um, I like what you did to the place." he said, looking at the control room. He had only been there once, but he felt something had changed about it. It was bigger, more spacious, with the control panels more on the side. The windshield was also way bigger, giving a bigger view of the night sky and stars.
"After last time's incident, I made adjustments to avoid another takeover on behalf of Max Tennyson." Vilgax said, noticing Ben twitched uncomfortably at the mention of the old Plumber. "But enough about that. How are you, my son?"
Ben crossed his arms. "I'm fine, I guess. Umm, I met an old acquaintance of Grandpa Max, I got a new alien on the Omnitrix, and I recently fought a guy named Kevin."
Okay, this could've been way less awkward, Ben was terrible at making small talk, he just blabbered everything at random. Vilgax seemed satisfied with his answer however.
"Who is that acquaintance you speak of?"
"We met his old Plumber partner, a guy named Phil. He was a real jerk."
"Phil Billings?" Vilgax asked, a slight frown on the man's face. "I've fought that man before, he was an authentic Plumber pest. Did he know anything about you?"
"I thought he did, but it looks like Grandpa Max didn't tell him a thing about me. Or anyone else. He released a bunch of monsters from the Null Void and tried to make money out of showing off his skills to everyone in town."
"What?!" Vilgax exclaimed. Ben knew it was normal to be shocked when someone fighting for justice turned out to be a fraud, but why did that concern Vilgax so much?
Usually, people who did shady stuff don't care that much when others do. Unless they wanted to team up for one of those big villain plans. But Vilgax said he didn't like Phil, so why did he react like that?
"And I thought the Plumbers already reached rock bottom last time we fought. Where is he now?"
"Uhh, I kinda... sent him to the Null Void?" Ben admitted. "He tried to trap me instead, but I used Diamondhead's crystals to send his lasers back. He was mad I didn't want to be his accomplice and follow Grandpa Max's footsteps, so he decided to get rid of me." Ben sat more comfortably, feeling satisfied about his victory over the man. "He tried to hurt us all when things weren't going his way, so now he's in the Null Void with all the other creeps."
Something in Vilgax's expression gave Ben the impression that his father had pride in his actions. He felt it was a good start. Maybe this wouldn't be as weird as he thought it'd be.
"You did well. The Null Void is a dimension where most scum the Plumbers couldn't get rid of are sent. Unfortunately for them, I wasn't around enough for them to attempt using it on me."
"Yeah. Um, some time after, I unlocked Cannonbolt. He's an Arbarbian... Arbireen... Arboran... Gah! Let me show you!" Ben got up and taking a few steps away, he selected Cannonbolt's icon.
He slammed the watch and, in a flash of green, Cannonbolt stood instead. Or rather, rolled forward.
Before he could do anything to stop his rolling, he felt a strong, clawed hand on his plates, keeping him in place until his speed died out.
When he knew he wasn't moving anymore, Cannonbolt uncurled from his ball form, sitting on the ground embarrassed.
"Sorry. I still gotta get the hang of this thing before I hurt someone."
"Interesting. An Arburian Pelarota. You may very well be the last member of this species with that form."
"Oh yeah, there was like a giant tick that tried to eat Earth. A bunch of alien priests or something followed it and they told us it ate Cannonbolt's planet. Is it real?"
"Hm, Arburia disappeared from the galaxy's map some time ago. If that creature you speak of is responsible for it, I must ask what happened to it."
"I used Cannonbolt tough body to destroy it from the inside."
Vilgax's eyes widened. "You used the Arburian Pelarotas' shell offensively?! Those creatures have been pacifists since the dawn of time, yet you knew how to weaponize their defensive abilities and fend yourself against that species' predator. Ben, you keep impressing me with each and each of your feats. I couldn't be any prouder of you at this moment."
Had Ben been in his human form, Vilgax would've seen the young boy blush at such compliments.
"Heh, thanks, da-aaaah!" he shouted as he failed to get back up and landed face first on the ground. "Ugh."
Vilgax lightly laughed at Ben's antics, before taking Cannonbolt's arm and lifting him from it. He brought his hand to the Omnitrix symbol on Cannonbolt's forehead, making a flash of red before Ben was back to his human form.
"Okay, you gotta tell me how to do that." Ben said as his father put him back down.
"The Omnitrix possesses many secrets we must uncover. You will learn how to use its full potential in time. You have yet to use the Master Control."
"Master Control? What does it do?"
"It is a function that will allow you full control over the Omnitrix. You would be able to switch forms at will without the risk of returning to your human form when you least need it."
The idea of changing form all the times whenever he wanted made Ben excited. Then he remembered the other guy who could do that.
"Kevin!"
Vilgax tilted his head in confusion.
"I almost forgot. Kevin is a kid I fought against yesterday and a few days ago."
"Does a human kid really pose you any problem?" Vilgax raised a brow.
Had Ben grown on Vilgaxia, this would've been akin to a child complaining about a school bully to his father. This however was not the case.
"He can use energy and absorb it. And when I got into a fight with him, he absorbed my aliens."
"What?! What do you mean?"
"He touched the watch before, and when it shocked him, he absorbed the energy it had and could become any of my aliens, but he couldn't go back to himself. He was so mad, he tried to hurt people by pretending to be me and cause petty crimes and not-so-pretty crimes."
Vilgax frowned. "So that Kevin hooligan is the one that's been usurping you for the last few days in many Earth towns."
"You knew that?" Ben was yet again confused. Vilgax had just come back to Earth, but he already knew? Did he have some sort of alien parental control in his spaceship?
He suddenly realized he was lucky Carl and Sandra weren't that aware of the things he did when he was younger, otherwise he wasn't sure he would've been allowed on this road-trip with Max and Gwen.
"I kept a close eye on the Omnitrix wearer before I knew it was you. You've been salvaging this planet's inhabitants from their own kind and protecting it from itself. After I found you, I never stopped looking after you and keeping track of you, even while I was away."
"You watched everything I did?"
"Even if I'm eons away from this planet, I'll always look out for you. Have no doubt in that, Benjamin."
Ben blinked. It took him a few minutes to find anything else to say. "Wait, so you knew it wasn't me that did all of that?"
"I've observed your fighting techniques. You need practice, but they were nowhere as brash and reckless as that Kevin child's movements."
'So he knew I wasn't responsible, he knew I wouldn't become a bad guy on a whim.' Ben smiled. 'Wish I could say the same for Grandpa. And Gwen.'
"Ben, now that I know no harm has happened to you while I was away, I must ask you: are you going back to Vilgaxia with me?"
Ben's heart skipped a beat.
Vilgax was proposing that he quit the planet Earth to live on some alien planet he knew nothing of.
On one hand, he never truly saw what his "home planet" was like. He didn't know where he was really from, he didn't know if he had any other family elsewhere. He had a chance of seeing the rest of the universe, discovering his origins and get to know everything he's been missing while he was on Earth.
On the other hand, he was potentially leaving behind everything he knew, everything he liked and cared about at this point. Could he really leave Earth like that, and miss nothing of it? Could he live normally away from Carl and Sandra, now that he knew they weren't completely honest with him when they raised him? Could he leave humanity over night and expect everything to be just fine?
No, he knew he couldn't leave. Not now.
If he left Earth now, Max and Gwen would feel responsible for it. And even if they argued recently, even if they doubted him when he said he was innocent... he could never bring himself to do that, it'd be the worst moment ever to do so. He knew Max had stuff on his plate he couldn't get off his chest yet, and Gwen would always look after his messes and try to fix them at her own risks.
If he left now, it'd leave their family even more broken, whether or not Ben felt he could still be a part of it.
He also knew he couldn't leave the Earth in danger. Bad guys like Animo, Hex and other weird-looking villains wouldn't stop endangering the world if Ben disappeared, he'd have to stay back there and get rid of them when he could.
Until summer vacation was over.
"I can't."
Vilgax crossed his arms, frowning. If he was expecting a 'no', he certainly wasn't prepared to accept it.
"I can't, yet. I can't go with you, not now. I still have a lot of stuff to take care of, I can't leave. Not right now."
"When?" Vilgax asked, with a strong hint of impatience in his voice.
"Look, summer vacation ends in two months. When those two months are over, I'll be back to Bellwood and everything should be over by then. In two months, when summer ends, I'll give you an answer."
Vilgax heavily sighed.
This wasn't the way he wanted things to be. He would've expected Ben to agree with him and follow him home, but it seemed Ben had matters to take care of. He missed his son, he missed his family, and he couldn't stand that Max Tennyson stole Ben away and appropriated him. He couldn't stand that Ben was missing from Vilgaxia for the last ten years, and it angered him that something still held his son back.
What could Ben possibly have to deal with? This planet was worthless, all he ever got from is betrayal, lies, manipulation. Earth was a prison disguised as a home, it was impossible for anybody to find anything or anyone worthy of knowing.
But he had faith in Ben, he knew whatever his child needed to accomplish, it wouldn't take long. Two months wasn't much next to all of the years he's spent waiting to find Ben again, he could wait until Ben was ready to accept his new life on Vilgaxia.
"Fine, so be it. You have two months to make up your decision, my son. You will have all the time you need, but I will regularly visit you to ensure your safety."
"Uh, what?!"
"You are still young, Benjamin, and while I don't doubt your knowledge of the Omnitrix's power is enough to make sure you're able to fend yourself, I will not let my son in the hands of my worst enemy unsupervised."
"But you're like, an alien king! Don't you have an empire to lead, people to give orders to, a planet to take care of?"
"Indeed, I do. Which is why I've hired these two to look after you when I'm gone."
Ben blinked. Was he getting babysitters? Alien babysitters? 'Oh come on! I don't need to-'
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw two very familiar Bounty Hunters come out of the dark.
"What?! No, not them!" Ben exclaimed, pointing to Kraab and Sixsix. "You sent them to take off my wrist, and now I'm gonna have them as my babysitters?!"
"The term 'bodyguards' would be more accurate. They are masters of stealth and they will protect you from the sidelines. They'll stop any threat they'll find nearby and won't be seen by other Earthlings. They will only interact with you directly when they're assured you're alone, your true identity will not be revealed to anyone, not until you're back home."
Ben pouted. Bodyguards or babysitters, it didn't matter. He didn't want the same guys who almost killed him, Gwen and Max following him around and spying on him. But if he really had no other choice...
"Fine, but you two try anything funny, I'll kick your butt again! Don't think I won't be careful with you two just because you're on my side." Ben sternly said, pointing at them both.
Something in his posture was amusedly very familiar to the alien warlord next to him, his temper did come from someone close after all.
"If you say so, young Master." said Kraab, making Ben wince at the response from the cyborg. Sixsix's unintelligible gurgle did not make him anymore comfortable
'Oh give me a break.' Ben thought.
He wanted to complain, but he started noticing a small light, coming from the ship's windshield.
"It's morning already?! Oh man, if I don't go back to the Rustbucket now, I'm so busted!" Ben realized in panic.
"The drones will bring you ba-"
"No thanks, I got my ways!" Ben said. He was not going through another hour-long trip with one of those any time soon.
He circled through his aliens, and as he chose Ghostfreak, he slammed on the dial, feeling his body change into the ghost alien.
"I'll be going now, see you around!" Ghostfreak said with his throaty voice before phasing through the floor.
"Wait, Ectonurites are vulnerable to light, you'll burn-"
He already left.
Ben was lucky he got back quick enough, it didn't seem Max and Gwen were awake. He prayed he had enough time to get to bed before he timed out. Something in him told him he wanted to turn back sooner, but it really wouldn't be helpful.
Hurrying, he phased through the Rustbucket's surface and, thankful ghosts didn't make noise beside howls and spouting regrets, he got under covers, just in time for the Omnitrix to flash red and him to revert to his human form.
'Success!' Ben thought.
He laid on his bed and closed his eyes, getting some rest after his exchange with Vilgax.
Max had other plans.
The curtains were abruptly opened, letting the light of the day illuminate the room.
"Come on kids, the world belongs to those who get up early!" he said, opening the windows wide to make sure his grandkids were awake.
Gwen yawned, getting out of bed. "Come on doofus, help me- Ben?"
"Ben?" Max asked.
Ben had pulled the covers all over him and put his head under the pillows, snoring deeply.
"Wasn't he the first who went to bed last night? Come on, Ben. Don't be lazy and help us make breakfast."
"He's had a lot to take care of yesterday, Gwen. He'll wake up when he'll feel like. Let me show you this specialty made of mud and frog eggs I've made."
Gwen gulped, looking back to Ben. At least her cousin was lucky to avoid breakfast for once, maybe there was an advantage at being silly and carefree the way he was.
"He's still gonna help us when he wakes up. And he should take a bath! Ew, he smells like..."
"Like?" Max was curious as to what else his granddaughter would describe Ben.
"I don't know," she said still staring at the sleeping boy, "he smells like seafood or some type of squid. What does he do at night to get himself this smelly?"
"By the way, have you seen one of our towels around here? I feel there's one missing." Max said, searching through the cupboards.
"I didn't. Let's figure that out later, okay? I'm starving."
She followed Max to the kitchen and, giving Ben a last glance, she left her cousin sleeping behind.
She had no idea their time together wouldn't last beyond this summer.
This chapter might've been shorter than the last one. This takes place right after "Framed" (you guessed it). I've decided to skip over "The Big Tick" because there wasn't anything much plot-related that would help the story, beside Ben getting Cannonbolt and wanting to impress his alien lord dad with his new form.
So in this chapter, Ben meets up with Vilgax again, and he now learns he'll be kept under watch. Sucks to be a prince sometimes.
Anyway, don't forget to review if you liked, and I'll be here next time for another chapter. Bye!
(also, yes. Ben was totally about to call Vilgax "dad" before he fell. It would've been somehow more embarrassing if he kept his balance lol)